Martin Sheen is a successful actor with a career spanning over six decades and several accolades, including three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He gained widespread recognition for his role as Captain Benjamin Willard in the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola film Apocalypse Now. Sheen is also well-known for his role as President Josiah Bartlet in the TV series The West Wing, which earned him several awards and nominations.
Aside from his acting career, the actor has a beautiful family as he is married to his wife, Janet Sheen, and they share four children, Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez, Charlie Sheen, and Renée Estevez. Recently, the actor celebrated his 83rd birthday and reflected on his marital journey and the enormous support he enjoys from his wife.
Martin Sheen says his wife helped him through some of his serious medical emergencies
In a November 2016 interview, the proud father of four revealed that his wife stood by him, especially during his health battles. Sheen suffered a heart attack during the production of Apocalypse Now in the Philippines, and Janet was there with him throughout the period to support and reassure him. “My wife, Janet, was running down the corridor, and I was on a gurney being wheeled in, and I looked up and saw her face,” Sheen admitted. “She leaned down and whispered, ‘It’s only a movie, babe. Please, it’s only a movie!'”
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He also disclosed that Janet cared for him and offered words of hope during his quadruple-bypass heart surgery in December 2015. “It was very serious,” Sheen added, “and she handled it like a pro. […] She said, ‘Don’t take yourself so seriously.'”
Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen raised their children away from the spotlight
A few years after the birth of their last child, the couple bought a ranch-style house in Malibu—Martin’s favorite place—and relocated their family there, away from the buzz of New York City, where they had lived for a while. However, when they purchased the house, there was no plan to renovate it until his wife Janet collaborated with her long-time friend and designer, Barbara O’Kun, to revamp the building.
Sheen revealed in an interview that when Janet finally started to remodel the house, he had no choice but to allow her. “I said, ‘You know she’s an artist, my wife. Let her have it!” the actor confessed. “‘This is her artistic expression.'”
The couple are proud grandparents
Incredibly, Martin welcomed his first grandchild when he was in middle age, the same age his parents welcomed theirs, too. “My father was 42 when I was born. And I was a grandparent at 42,” the actor revealed.
In a 2011 interview, the actor detailed how happy he was when he welcomed his first grandchild, Taylor, and the experience of witnessing it. Over the years, Martin has welcomed four other granddaughters, Paloma, Cassandra, Sam, and Lola.